LISA BURD/Things
A Waka Kotahi sign south of Inglewood told drivers on State Highway 3 of roadworks on Sunday, but a mistake meant no work was taking place between the town and Midhirst.
Urgent repairs to potholes in a 21km stretch of Taranaki’s busiest highway were only partially completed on Sunday after contractors oversaw the traffic management plan.
Last week, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency announced that State Highway 3 between Inglewood and Stratford would be closed from 7am to 1pm for urgent work in two sections.
But on Sunday afternoon, Waka Kotahi said “operational difficulties” meant only one section had been completed.
Asked for an explanation, a spokesperson for Waka Kotahi said there had been “supervision by our contractors regarding the traffic management plan for the works”.
READ MORE:
* Woman finds herself in a tricky situation as she directs traffic to New Plymouth’s mysterious molasses spill
* New Plymouth Mayor Rejects Waka Kotahi’s SH3 Winter Repair Reasoning
* Pothole peppered section of SH3 in Taranaki to close for urgent repairs on Sunday
“Unfortunately, they didn’t discover this early enough to fix it.”
This meant repairs on the Stratford to Midhirst section were completed, but work in Tariki, between Midhirst and Inglewood, will have to take place in the future.
Around 9:30 a.m. Sunday, an electronic Waka Kotahi sign on the south side of Inglewood informed motorists that the road to Midhirst had been closed, as did the transport company’s trip planner website.
But no work was done.
Waka Kotahi had encouraged drivers to take State Highway 45, which added approximately 24 minutes and 35 km to a journey from Hāwera to New Plymouth.
Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke was unimpressed, saying motorists were fed up with damaged rims and flat tires.
LISA BURD/Things
The sign was later changed to say the road was open.
“But more importantly, I just don’t understand why no one in Waka Kotahi seems to get the message that these potholes are dangerous. It is only a matter of time before we have a serious or fatal accident.”
Waka Kotahi had missed “an amazing opportunity” to do the job, Volzke said.
“The weather was perfect and if it breaks and starts to rain again, we’ll be right back to square one.”
Plymouth’s new mayor, Neil Holdom, said it was quite clear that Waka Kotahi is an “organization in crisis”.
“I mean, making winter repairs is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
“There’s five days of rain coming and it’s likely most of the repairs done today will blow out, and they won’t be there in a week anyway.”
Holdom said something had to be done “that’s more than fixing it in the middle of winter and hoping it doesn’t rain”.
It was disappointing for motorists to have to change plans when Waka Kotahi hadn’t really done the job, he added.
“But, I mean, we have to keep focusing on the safety of our road workers.”
In an emailed statement, Jaclyn Hankin, Waka Kotahi’s regional manager of maintenance and operations, apologized to motorists and thanked them for their patience.
“We will share details for completing the works in Tariki with the community as soon as we have them.”
The agency also apologized “without reservation” for the inconvenience caused by the lack of current information, Hankin said.
“Normally, when a change, such as the inability to proceed with the works, is identified by our contractors, they are required to update the information informing the communications through our Journey Planner website, social media and electronic messaging through the away.
“This has not happened in this case and we will be questioning our contractor to understand why.”
A spokesman for Waka Kotahi said they would have full details of what happened once the team had a chance to debrief on Monday.